


This Strange, New Love

by ashenRenegade



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25025530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashenRenegade/pseuds/ashenRenegade
Summary: Felix and Byleth had always treated one another as equals from the day they met. Five years later and in the midst of a war, that still hasn't changed. They find respite in one anothers company in the nights leading up to the assault on Fort Merceus as certain emotions are unearthed that neither were aware they were capable of.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth, Sylvain Jose Gautier/Mercedes von Martritz
Kudos: 34





	1. The First Night; Caution

**Author's Note:**

> So I've just finished my second playthrough of Three Houses and I love my Blue Lions so much I want to cry, particularly one thorny boi. There will be no major unit deaths here because in my second run I actually managed to recruit everyone that was possible to recruit and I can't bear seeing any of my babies get hurt. This is just some fluff amidst all the chaos. Enjoy!

Tension hung thick in the air all throughout Garreg Mach as the forces that had amassed there prepared to storm Fort Merceus; the impregnable fortress. If it was taken successfully, the Kingdom’s position would be strengthened significantly considering the recent recapturing of Arianrhod. This would be a tipping point in the war, one way or another, and as Byleth stood in the empty war room with her head hanging over a battle map she was acutely aware of that fact. Everyone had returned from Derdriu safely apart from some bumps and bruises but the web of burns that mottled the left side of her torso still stung violently. Thoron was a powerful spell, one that Lord Arundel had wielded expertly, and Byleth had walked away from their encounter wounded but grateful for her victory. Dimitri and Byleth had agreed to return to the monastery posthaste without another moment's delay to adequately prepare for the task ahead and as such she had neglected to inform Mercedes of her wounds which the professor was now beginning to regret considering her own healing capabilities only stretched so far. She would bring it up in the morning, perhaps over breakfast. For now, she had to familiarise herself with Fort Merceus. Getting in would be the first issue. They could attempt to break through here but that would leave them vulnerable to--

_ Pain _ .

Byleth doubled over the table with an audible hiss as the lancing agony of her mismanaged wound turned her vision white for a moment. Without proper care and adequate time to rest, it was evident that the burn was becoming more and more exacerbated even if Byleth had done what she could to patch herself up. It would take too long and exert too much effort to find Mercedes so she just repeated her actions from before; placing her hand over her ribs and calling upon her own limited knowledge of Faith. A warm, off-white light bathed her form as it rippled around her trembling hand and the pain ebbed just a little. The skin didn’t pinch so badly when it rubbed against her shirt. It would do for now. Byleth’s eyes focused again on the map as she carefully began the process of deciding which units would go where and what battalions they should take with them until a voice filled the room from the doorway on the opposite side.

“There you are,”

She raised her head to regard Felix properly as he stood just beyond the threshold of the war room with one hand resting on the pommel of his blade. His expression remained neutral but his eyes brimmed with a mixture of curiosity and aggravation. 

“Looking for me?” Byleth queried as her gaze dropped to the map once more. “I figured it was pretty pertinent to get back to work,”

“Clearly. When I didn’t find you at the training grounds, I thought this was where you would be. You missed dinner, by the way,”

As Felix finished his last sentence, his tone betrayed him. Neutrality gave way to a familiar chastising tone that he had used on her before multiple times and vice versa in the time they’d known one another. Byleth hummed softly in response before sweeping locks of teal behind one ear while her other hand restlessly drummed on the table. 

“Did I? I didn’t even notice,” she replied with an apologetic glance. “Sorry if I made anybody worry. I just don’t want to leave anything involving this assault to chance,”

She listened as the echo of his boots on the floor drew closer and in a matter of moments Felix was standing next to her, watching intently as she continued to ponder who to place on the front lines.

“You could have given it an hour,” he huffed.

“That’s an extra hour they have to use against us, Felix,” Byleth objected.

“An hour of half-hearted planning won’t make or break a battle of this magnitude, professor,”

“I’m not your professor anymore, and you simply don’t  _ know _ that,”

“Don’t be stubborn,”

“You’re one to talk,”

Felix groaned and brought one hand up to massage his temple whilst giving Byleth a withering look out of the corner of his eye. The woman was absolutely maddening, unreasonable, and downright oblivious to the concern she’d sewn amongst their ranks due to her absence. He had only volunteered to find her because if he hadn’t then it would’ve been Dimitri that had tracked her down instead. Despite his turnaround, Felix still felt trepidation at the concept of Dimitri being allowed to speak to Byleth alone; he had been the first to notice her bruising the last time the two of them had argued before the idiot had snapped out of whatever he had been mired in. The boar prince still had to prove his intent through his deeds and as such Felix was not about to let him find Byleth here, alone and injured. Judging by her rigid posture and the fact that she was clearly favouring one leg, Felix assumed he was correct in his assumption that she had not sought out appropriate help for the wound she had sustained from Lord Arundel. A stupid, reckless decision that wouldn’t have flown had it been anyone else and she had caught them. 

“Profe--” Felix caught himself. “ _ Byleth _ , this is asinine. You can’t plan anything when you’re injured and you’re no use to anyone if we set off for Fort Merceus and you’re at anything less than 100%. Don’t be an idiot, it isn’t like you,”

There was a pause as Byleth stared blankly at the map before she let out a long exhale through her nose. Felix watched as she tried to straighten up rather than remain hunched over the table, feeling a twinge of sympathy at the pained expression that wracked her features. She looked pale and more than a little woozy, and it occurred to Felix that since she hadn’t eaten dinner it had undoubtedly been several days since she had eaten a real meal. His brow furrowed while his frustration mounted but before he could reprimand her further, Byleth beat him to it.

“You knew I was injured?”

Felix let out an aggravated snort.

“Of course I did. The two of us are always on the front lines so I always have eyes on you. If you get hit hard, one of us has to be vigilant so we can put ourselves between the threat and you until Mercedes can assist. I do not expect Dimitri to have such clarity on the battlefield and so the task falls to me. Sit down,”

He hooked one foot around a chair and yanked it out a good distance from the table before looking at Byleth expectantly. The look he received was one he was much more familiar with when they trained together; brilliant teal backlit with the fire of opposition. She wanted to fight him on this. It gave him a sense of relief knowing that she still had enough of that fight left in her despite the rampant neglect she was putting her body through. It reminded him of her strength and that in itself was a comfort. Nevertheless, she settled into the chair with a pained groan and without verbal argument, head tilting back as her eyes squeezed shut from the discomfort. Without another word, Felix put himself between her chair and the table and sank down onto one knee as his brow furrowed in concentration. It didn’t come as easily for him as it did for Byleth but over the course of a few seconds he remembered what part of his mind to tap into, how to draw the essence of Faith forward, and how he needed to think to make it bend to his will. He envisioned the burn underneath her shirt; spidering across her skin like forks of lightning and leaving angry red scars in its wake. He could see it impacting her ribs the most heavily and remembered the sight of the concentrated arc of electricity colliding with her body as she avoided the first bolt but couldn’t quite get her footing to avoid the second. He wanted to see the raised skin calm, bringing angry red back to her usual snowy complexion, and watch her be able to twist her torso and not be blinded by the agony of it. He would see his wishes made manifest. Felix watched as his own hands lit up just as he outstretched them towards his old professor, sweat beading on his brow as he pushed those thoughts into that warm light.

_ To fix. To mend. To stitch together torn flesh. To chase away the ghosts of pain and leave relief in its wake.  _

It was a train of thought that was still very foreign to the swordsman but during Mercedes’ seminars she had taught them that visualising what they wished to remedy would help them call forth that magic more easily. To her credit, it was working even if it was sapping him of his energy at an alarming rate. Felix watched as tendrils of pearlescent magic spiralled off his fingertips and danced across Byleths torso before disappearing under layers of cloth and doting on the wounded flesh that lay beneath. He idly noticed some of the tension leaving her shoulders as his assistance allowed her to shift a little in the chair and the sigh that passed her lips let him know he was at least doing something right. Good. He pulled his hands back after a few moments more and tried to quell the lightheadedness it left behind. As he centred himself, he heard Byleth’s voice ring out from just in front of him, filled with a gratitude and sincerity he had been graced with more often than he would ever admit.

“Thank you, Felix,”

He grunted in response before rising up again, folding his arms across his chest as he gave her a stern look.

“Don’t be so careless next time,”

Molten amber met aquamarine for a moment and Felix expected a quip from her. Instead, he watched as her head canted curiously to one side and her lips turned upwards into a bemused smile.

“An unparalleled swordsman with a hidden knack for magic who doubles as a healer in a pinch. Do the wonders ever cease, Fraldarius?”

Felix felt heat rising up his neck and across his cheeks as her praise caught him entirely off guard. Damn her and her ability to utterly disarm him without even so much as raising a hand. 

“Now I  _ know _ the pain is making you delirious,” he countered gruffly. “You’ve patched me up on the battlefield as well; it can be learned like any skill,”

“Accept the compliment, Felix. It’s easier than fighting it,”

Byleth chuckled softly as she hoisted herself out of the chair with a degree of effort whilst pushing through the lingering burning that radiated across her torso. The world was spinning a little less now but the feeling of her stomach eating itself wasn’t getting any less prominent. She could feel Felix watching her, braced to catch her should she fall, and she found herself grateful that he was the one to have found her. 

When she was their professor five years ago, the Blue Lions had all accepted her with open arms and each of them had forged a different relationship with her. They had all taught her that the world needn’t be grey and that even someone like her could learn to laugh and to smile. She owed them much but ultimately there was always the degree of separation that came from her position as faculty. Ashe, Ingrid, and Dedue treated her with the respect such a position provided. Sylvain, Annette and Mercedes overlooked her position when it suited them but admiration - or resentment in Sylvain’s case - always kept them just a step too far away. Dimitri had been sweet on her, she knew, and that made her cautious in and of itself. Felix, however, had been different. He addressed her as Professor but never looked at her with starry eyes. He had never hated her for who she was, was not under the impression that she was superior by circumstance, and never called into question who she was despite her lack of nobility. He had seen her as an opponent in practice and an ally on the field which she was thankful for. Over the course of her time there until the assault, she had come to trust Felix implicitly. That never amounted to anything verbally but Byleth was always comforted by the consistency of always having someone to cross blades with even if everything around her felt like it was crumbling. True to form, here he was five years later. Felix Hugo Fraldarius; her ally and her equal. Nothing less. Goddess knows that Sylvain wouldn’t have gotten away with trying to chastise her the way he did. The two warriors remained there for a moment longer before Byleth gave him a searching look and Felix couldn’t help but bristle a little under her gaze. She seemed to be searching him for something and he had told her  _ repeatedly _ that he hated both eye contact and staring. It made his cheeks flush and his skin itch.

“Spit it out, Byleth,” he barked.

His prickly demeanour affected her very little, as he expected. She blinked once, undeterred, and shrugged.

“I was going to ask if you’d like to accompany me to the dining hall since I still need to eat. I can probably cook myself something. However, I didn’t want to bother you with the request since it’s already late and you’ve already exhausted yourself assisting me. I was weighing up whether to ask you, is all,”

Felix did enjoy that much about Byleth; she always told him exactly what was on her mind. She didn’t dance around words or try to fool him with pretty lies. The woman was honest, infuriatingly so at times, and so he learned to put his faith in her words. That honesty translated into her expressions and her body language as well. As a result, when he noticed the defensive way her arms crossed over her chest and the slight look of preemptive disappointment in her eyes as she looked away from him, he had more context than with mere words. Not only was she going to ask him to accompany her, she actively  _ wanted _ his company. The thought made an odd warmth bloom in his chest that he chased away before he could think about it too hard.

“Someone has to accompany you to make sure you don’t pass out on the way there. Besides, running around looking for you meant I also missed out on dinner so you’d best make enough for two,”

Felix heard Byleth scoff as she turned away and made careful strides for the door but she did not refuse. A part of him hoped that this meant she agreed to the proposition; after all, she had spent a lot of time with the likes of Ashe and Dedue who were known for their culinary talents. Even Bernadetta had been spotting dabbling with the mercenary in the kitchen from time to time, and rumour had it that the violet haired archer was no slouch in that regard either. Felix felt a sense of eager anticipation at the prospect. He liked a good meal as much as any other, even if he voiced it rarely, and the thought of eating something prepared by Byleth was...Appealing. Why was it so appealing? Another emotion Felix didn’t much feel like investing too much thought into. He instead settled for keeping pace with her as they walked the grounds of the monastery while making sparse but comfortable conversation. 

Yes, this was nice. 


	2. The Second Night; Assurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth finds that nightmares hound her sleep. Felix provides a surprisingly fresh perspective and gives himself a little too much to think about in the process.

Felix was well aware that he was not the only individual within the walls of the monastery that had trouble sleeping some nights. It did not surprise him to occasionally cross paths with Sylvain in the hallway, meet Ignatz in the library, hear Annette singing to herself as he passed her doorway and saw the light streaming from underneath it. They had all endured much and war often brought sleepless nights. It was to be expected. However, there came one particular evening when he pushed open the doors to the training grounds and found that it was not empty like he had anticipated it to be. He heard grunts and huffs of exertion punctuated by the noise of a training sword striking its target. Hard. Felix was always a light footed man so it was easy to peer around the side of one of the pillars whilst not making a single sound. His eyes focused on the form standing in the centre of the grounds; Byleth. In the low lighting, he could make out the silver lines that cascaded up her bare arms from old scars and saw that the tunic she wore was damp at the back with sweat. Stray strands of seafoam that had wormed its way out of the ponytail she wore clung to her forehead as powerful legs carried her forward once more. She struck the already fraying dummy again, and again, and again. This was not training. This was catharsis. Felix frowned as he watched her for a moment more before deciding to intervene. He knew Byleth, perhaps better than anyone else here save maybe Yuri or Mercedes, and he knew how long she must have been at this to work up this much of a sweat. The woman had stamina in spades. He waited until she finished her latest volley and turned her back on the dummy, swiping damp hair off her face and releasing a heavy exhale, before he stepped out from behind the pillar and approached.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he greeted her plainly.

He watched as her head immediately swiveled to look at him and those big, teal eyes of hers widened a fraction in surprise. Her emotions had become easier to read the longer she had remained with the Blue Lions and the myriad he saw swimming in her gaze gave him pause. 

“...Is something the matter?”

There was a pregnant pause before Byleth shook her head as if chasing away some errant thought before heading towards the rack to return the sword.

“Good evening, Felix,” she began quietly, her breathing still a tad uneven. “You needn’t trouble yourself; I just came to blow off some steam. I figured it would be best to do that rather than lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. You can relate, I’m sure,”

Felix hated eye contact, infamously so, but Byleth did not and so her absolute refusal to meet his gaze perplexed him. His frown deepened.

“I do, but something’s off. I can't tell you how to spend your time, but you aren’t going to work out whatever's eating away at you by destroying a dummy,” he huffed.

He followed her to the rack and gave her hand a gentle shove as she moved to hang up the wooden blade she carried, picking up one himself.

“Come, if neither of us can sleep we should at least do something productive,”

Byleth provided him with no response but he knew she would acquiesce as he took his spot at one side of the space, rucking up the sleeves of his shirt to the elbow while giving the blade a few experimental twirls in his hand. The two stood facing each other like every other bout they partook in almost daily, but something about this particular match had Felix feeling uncomfortable. She looked weary, the usual ferocity lost in a sea of something else, and he did not have the emotional intelligence to know what it was. So they clashed instead. Her movements were as practiced as they always were; beautiful and sharp and clean. She moved like a lioness, Felix had once decided, stalking and striking with the intelligence and keen sense of a predator. Even in her compromised state, that much did not change. However, her defences were not the same. For every strike she notched on him, he got her back with one in return. For every jab to the ribs, he countered with a downwards strike that caught her shoulder. For every upwards swing that parried his blade, his offhand fist would catch her with a glancing blow to the sternum. He didn’t like this. He had won against her  _ once _ and that had been a fair, admirable fight. He didn’t want to win like  _ this _ . Their blades met, her strike being held at bay by the flat of his blade, and despite his own discomfort he forced her eyes to meet his own.

“What’s the matter with you?” he growled, almost losing his footing as she pushed off his blade and retreated a few steps to circle him.

“What are you talking about?” she replied, her usually velvet voice turned sharp with a defensiveness he had never heard turned his way before.

“Don’t play stupid, Byleth. I don’t have the patience for it and you’re a terrible liar,” came the impatient reply.

“Felix, I appreciate your concern as surprising as it may be, but it isn’t really your business,”

“I think you’ll find it’s very much my business,”

Byleth arched a brow as her mouth pulled into a thin, tight line before she surged forward to engage with him again. The sound of wood clattering against wood seemed to fill the space around them completely.

“And why, exactly, is that?” she growled.

“I said this to the boar and I’ll say it to you too since you seem oblivious to the fact,” Felix replied with a grunt as he blocked a blow with his arm. “I am not immune to emotion, and seeing you be so sloppy worries me. Byleth, stop for a second and just  _ talk to me _ ,”

His demand rang in Byleth’s ears as he reached forward and gripped her sword arm, yanking it down to her side as both of them took a second to catch their breath. He wasn’t the best at interpreting how others felt, but even Felix could see the way her brows knit together and the budding frustration changed into something wholly more...sad. The tension in her shoulders eased, making them slump, and for once she was the one to avert her eyes. Felix released his grip on her arm and waited with a patience he was surprised he had in spite of everything. His temper was easier to maintain around Byleth, easier to quell, and his running theory had been her own calm demeanour. Perhaps there was more to it. Byleth eventually spoke up after a few moments of silence and deliberation. Her fists slowly clenched and unclenched at her sides as she did so, her voice ending on a slight waver.

“It...It isn’t unusual that I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. Even when I was young I was never a heavy sleeper. But my sleeps were largely dreamless, save...One or two,” a pause. “Never nightmares, though. Not until now. Now I see the Death Knight upon that infernal steed, his eyes all brimstone and flame as he carves through the people I’ve come to depend upon and care for deeply. I see him cut down Sylvain, Ingrid, Dimitri, Dedue...You. The list continues. Anyone I know that has a chance of getting close to him. It’s maddening, Felix. I am sure given your own circumstances it must seem silly for such dreams to affect me so heavily but I...Up until Jeralt died, I had never dealt with loss. I doubt I would’ve had the emotional range to process it regardless. Now I’m capable of so much  _ more _ than I was. I can laugh, I can smile, I can cry. It is both a boon and a curse to now tether myself to people so heavily. If any of you were to fall I...I…”

She cut herself short, just shaking her head and bringing a hand up to rub one temple. Standing as close to her as he was, Felix could see now just how tired his old professor looked. Her forehead was creased with worry and there were puffy, dark circles framing her eyes. She looked paler than usual too, he thought, and it was impossible to ignore the fact that the tenacity that seemed to be as much a part of her as the air she breathed was just...Gone. The woman had the weight of all of  Fódlan on her shoulders. Perhaps now it was finally beginning to crush her. He sighed and steered her carefully towards the steps that led down to the arena and sat her down before taking a seat next to her. He didn’t know what to say, truth be told, as words did not come easily to him at the best of times. However, once he started he found it difficult to stop.

“I do not think it’s silly, no. I’d be lying if I said I never had dreams where the deaths of my father and brother plagued me. The difference between us is I dream of things that have already come to pass. There is nothing I can do about it anymore so I do not hold onto them. They do not nip at my heels and tear me from my sleep. You dream about what is yet to come, a foe we have yet to best, and the potential losses that could bring. It’s reasonable. However, you need to understand that--”

“That this is war and casualties are inevitable. I know,”

“Let me finish. You need to understand that we are no longer your students. You are a capable leader and brilliant tactician, but all of us are formidable in our own right. We look to you for guidance but we do not expect you to hold our hand. If any one of us were to go toe to toe with the Death Knight, I have confidence we would all emerge victorious. I understand that it doesn’t necessarily help to hear it but I hope you trust me on this. We are your companions, not your students. You can lean on us if you need it,”

Talking this much admittedly made the swordsman quite uncomfortable but he could not deny that he meant every word of it. Even a slacker like Sylvain had been pulling his weight and now that Dimitri had regained his sanity he was no longer a liability on the battlefield. There wasn’t a person among them that he would consider unworthy of taking down such an enemy, except perhaps Lorenz. Admittedly, that was more of a personal opinion than an abject fact. Something about the purple haired nobleman always did rub Felix the wrong way. He spared Byleth a sideways glance and was pleasantly surprised to find her smiling. Through silent tears, but smiling. One hand came up to wipe the tears from her eyes but when she turned to face him, something in her face looked lighter. Relieved.

“Of course you’re right, aren’t you? I hate that,” she let out a watery chuckle. “It’s so bizarre. My slumber meant that everything felt so similar to how it did before but so much has changed. You were always capable, the lot of you, but even more so now. Worrying about you all is something that comes so naturally to me that I suppose I just...Forgot how our positions have changed. I believe you, though. I don’t think the Death Knight stands a damned chance against any of you. Especially not you,”

The complement admittedly made Felix swell a little with pride but he said nothing, not finding this to be the appropriate moment to push his luck. Instead, he remained silent as Byleth’s weight shifted and her head fell to rest against his shoulder. Had this been five years ago, he would have jerked away, let her head fall, demanded to know what she was doing being as close to him as she was. Now? Now, things were different. He found the gentle pressure of her head upon his shoulder to be something akin to pleasant, particularly so when the gentle scent of her hair pervaded his senses; clean and fresh, lemon and sage with the slightest hint of ozone. His palette usually consisted of rich, earthy scents but this was...not unpleasant. He could get used to it. 

_ What was he thinking? _

Felix felt his ears grow hot as he shook such thoughts from his mind, instead awkwardly curling an arm around her shoulder to steady her as he felt her form grow slightly limp next to him. Her breathing began to slow as she looked up at him with hazy eyes, heavy with sleep.

“I should talk to you about these things more often. Thank you, Felix,”

“I can’t promise I’ll be helpful, but if you ever want to yell about something asinine while we spar I suppose that’s alright,” he allowed himself a slight grin. “You’re welcome, By,”

He had never called her that before, but he was grateful that she didn’t seem to notice. It didn’t take much longer for Byleth to give in to her exhaustion, falling asleep against Felix’ shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world. He took a moment to just look at the woman that had been instrumental in turning the war in their favour and found himself softening at the look of peace that had fallen upon her. She looked content, like not a thing in the world could rouse her. 

_ Good _ , he thought as he carefully scooped her up into his arms,  _ because if anyone in the world deserves some respite right now… _

Felix found the door to her room to be open, much to his relief, and laid her carefully down in her bed before moving to extinguish the lantern she had left burning at her desk. He allowed himself one more glance at his sparring companion and confidant over his shoulder, finding a muddle of emotions he couldn’t even begin to dissect. Not right now. 

“Goodnight, Byleth,” he whispered. “No more nightmares, alright?”

He found sleep surprisingly easily after that and awoke to the sound of Sylvain hammering on his door hours later.

“Felix, c’mon! We’ll miss breakfast if you don’t haul ass! You sick or something? You never sleep in this much,”

Felix smiled to himself despite the annoyance currently pounding on his door as he swung his legs out of bed and took note of the sunlight currently streaming in through his open window. His old friend was right; usually his sleep was never so restful as to allow him to sleep in. He could get used to it if this wasn’t how he was going to be woken every morning.

“I’m coming, you moron,” he barked, his smile still persisting. “You could’ve just gone without me,”

“Listen, if I don’t make sure you come down to eat then you’ll just go straight to the training grounds and skip eating altogether. Dealing with you every day is already hard, never mind when you’re  _ hungry _ . Hurry up!”

His friends barbed teasing seemed to get under his skin a little less as he dressed himself. Would Byleth be there or would she still be recuperating? Selfishly, he hoped that she would be there when they arrived. 

_ Why? _


End file.
